UFC Fight Night: Overeem vs Arlovski - May 8th

[lambyUK]

Would have been though, had it not been for those meddling rebels.

On the subject of MMA fans, I thought UFC shows were not meant to be that bad. I thought it was more local MMA shows where the true "2 can Van Dammes" (credit to Keith Houchen) turned up. The two shows I went to in Birmingham and Nottingham a few years back, everyone was fairly reasonable.

I've been to a UFC Nottingham event, and a UFC event in New Jersey in the US, and I have to say the crowds at both were impeccable. I barely saw a tapout T-shirt at either event. There was no male posturing, and in fact there were a lot of woman and couples there. The US crowd in particular was very up market and there loads of people dressed like it was the first part of their night out before heading out to a club or some swanky bar. The woman were completely glammed up too. I'm not saying that what Herbie says is definitely not true, but it's certainly not that bad from my experience at least. My problem was simply both events turned out to be dogshit from a fight perspective.

[lambyUK]

I don't care if this is a double post, this deserves a seperate post.But FUCK, that was the best weigh ins I've ever seen. Absolute magic.

[Scott Malbranque]

What happened? Can't get through to me mate from work!

[wandshogun09]

Yeah, there's a fair few Tapout/Affliction wearing, Carling breathed, neckbearded, plastic hardman, attention seeking wastes of sperm there. But there's normal people as well and actually some really sound people in my experience. Some more shit to watch;Good little Forrest Griffin media scrumTalks Conor McGregor and his hype, Ireland, Brandao's chances, the recent drug test stuff etc. I've said before but Forrest seems so much happier now he's retired. He even says himself he was an asshole when doing media for his fights due to the stress and pressure of fight week. He seems more like the Forrest I liked on TUF 1 these days.Dana White interviewHe's buying pints for everyone tonight. Get on that Supremo and Ross.

[lambyUK]

What happened? Can't get through to me mate from work!

The crowd were absolutely mental and made the entire thing really intense and full of emotion. I've never watched a weigh before where I've felt like screaming "FUCK YEAH!" at the screen. Mcgregor/Brandao stare off was unreal. Whoever was able to attend that weigh in are lucky people.For anyone who missed it...(wand)http://www.mmafighting.com/2014/7/18/59100...-weigh-in-video

[wandshogun09]

I missed the weigh in but...

Dana White @danawhite The SICKEST weigh in I have done in 13 years!! Ireland is AWESOME!! Diego said if u let that MFer come near me I'll head but his face

Cheers for the link Lamby!

[Scott Malbranque]

Thanks Lamby.Big budgie on McGregor there.

[lambyUK]

No probs fellas. It was so good I've just rewatched the Mcgregor stare down again. It's just absolutely mental and I even missed Connor throwing his hat at Brandao pre getting on the scales.

[jimufctna24]

Thanks for the link.Yeah, that was pretty dope. The comparisons to Chael are not accurate, McGregor is a different animal, with a different type of charm to him. Chael was never as intense like McGregor was there. Chael was a smooth and witty trash talker, whilst McGregor is much more intense and aggressive, and kept his words short and sweet. Still he knew what to say.If McGregor can back this up inside the cage, he could be something very special.

[Supremo]

Fucking hell. I've been to loads of weigh ins in the past, but nothing like that. When I sat down at the start I thought it was quite a timid crowd, but once the Irish fighters came out everyone erupted and by the time Conor arrived people completely lost their minds. I can't even imagine what the atmosphere will be like tomorrow.I met and got pictures with Forest and Ariel. Both were great. Forest was also really great at the Q&A, which was surprisingly enjoyable. It wasn't the normal UFC Q&A filled with mongs begging for tickets or asking cringe worthy questions. It was a good laugh and the majority of the questions were either interesting or genuinely funny. Plus, a bloke stepped up to the microphone who looked the double of Ric Flair, so had the whole crowd Whoo-ing, which was fun.Also, Conor's dad is all over the place and looks to be having the time of his life.I can't wait for tomorrow. I'm off to find Dana for a pint!

[wandshogun09]

Someone's already angling for McGregor's next fight;

The Diamond @DustinPoirierI hope Conor wins tomorrow so I can beat his ass...He needs a slice of humble pie and I just the man for the job.I'm the best. Connors a conqueror? ..He's no Alexander I'm Alexander. I'm the best ever Tell everyone you know the future champ has spoken

OK, Pea Head. Calm down. Seriously, if McGregor wins tomorrow night, McGregor vs Poirier would be a great fight. And a logical next step. If he's 3-0 three fights in, it's time for the step up. And while Poirier would be a step up, he wouldn't be a crazy one. I know Conor's on about title shots and shit but going from Brandao to Aldo or Mendes is a ridiculous jump. Why have I got this horrible feeling this is all going tits up and Brandao KOs McGregor? I mean, I think Conor will win but he's coming off surgery, a long layoff and Brandao is dangerous both standing and on the ground. And the thing is, we still don't know a great deal about McGregor as a fighter. He's got skills no doubt but there's a lot of unanswered questions at the moment. Has he even faced a big puncher before? Like I say I think he'll win, I'd say Max Holloway is a much better overall fighter than Brandao and Conor handled him one-legged. But the circumstances this time, the layoff etc, plus Brandao's got that instant fight changing KO power and BJJ black-belt. I don't know. I've got an uneasy feeling the closer we get. McGregor coming out and destroying Brandao in Dublin just seems too good to be true. Like we're being set up for disappointment. And we're all thinking 'imagine how mental the crowd will be tomorrow if Conor wins', but just imagine the reaction if Brandao lays him out? No-one's really talking about that. Hopefully I'm worrying over nothing. I hope the McGregor ride keeps rolling on. I haven't been this nervous for a fight since...I can't even remember.

[wandshogun09]

^^ Nah, fuck that. Just watched the weigh in bit again... McGregor by tree punch combo in the turd round. Brandao quote

"Conor's a clown. His mom never disciplined him when he was a kid - I'll be his dad on Sat. night

[herbie747]

I'm not saying that what Herbie says is definitely not true, but it's certainly not that bad from my experience at least. My problem was simply both events turned out to be dogshit from a fight perspective.

I've been to lots of shows, and most have been either riots, fights, or full of wankers.

• Cage Warriors in May 2005 - riot.
• Cage Warriors in October 2005 - nearly another riot after soem Asian fighter lost - his posse started throwing stuff at the cage, but the MC (could have been Ian Freeman) calmed them down.
• UFC in Dublin, 2009 - bunch of tools sitting around me yelling dumb shit all night - "show us your gee" at the ring girls every time they got up, then nudging each other like school kids and trying to one-up each other (gee means pussy in Ireland). And 2 guys dressed like Tap Out guys were totally pissed and spilled a drink on a girl beside them and a fight broke out.
• Cage Rage Contenders (2007) in The Point (now the O2) had some wannabe from the crowd mouthing off at Ian Freeman (the MC) and challenge him to a fight - Freeman told him to come down, and the guy came all the way down to the cage before backing down. Not quite a fight, but fucking lame - on both their parts.
• Chaos 5 (17th Oct 2009) in Derry - was there to watch my coach fight and another fighter called Liam Ward headbutted his opponent after he lost and a near riot broke out. Have a video of it here - just put it on Youtube:

Could be just bad luck - but the crowds (from my experience) are generally drunk knobs & the potential for violence in the audience has me on edge - I can't relax at these shows. I'd prefer to have friends over, few beers, few smokes, chipper, and watch in HD from multiple angles. It's a shame, but I just can't be dealing with bellends - I get easily distracted by them. I can only imagine the amount of McGregor wannabes and shapers who'll be at this. Blokes with beards & dickie bows.

Yeah, there's a fair few Tapout/Affliction wearing, Carling breathed, neckbearded, plastic hardman, attention seeking wastes of sperm there. But there's normal people as well and actually some really sound people in my experience.

Oh absolutely - most of them are fine - it's just not enough to offset the plethora of knobs; for me, anyway.Can't fucking wait for the show though.

[wandshogun09]

Jesus, sounds like you've just had an unfortunate run of luck. I've only been to UFC shows (80, 85, 89, 138 & Gus-Manuwa so far) and a couple of boxing shows, and I've seen literally no trouble whatsoever. I think it just really comes down to luck where you're sitting and who's around you. I've been really lucky but there's always some knob desperate to be heard nearby.

And 2 guys dressed like Tap Out guys were totally pissed and spilled a drink on a girl beside them and a fight broke out.

Ha, that happened to us (the drink spilling not the fighting) at the London show in March. Some bloke behind us spilled his pint all down my mate's girlfriend's back. She was fucking livid. First thing I thought was 'this perv is trying to make a wet t-shirt night out of this'. But when I turned and saw him he was absolutely raving camp. She had nothing he'd be interested in. The bloke actually couldn't have been more polite and apologetic, he even apologized again as we were leaving, and that was the end of it. She was well pissed off on the train back though - "For fucks sake, I'm soaked, freezing and I smell like a pisshead"

[herbie747]

I was at Cage Wars in Belfast and it was fine though. I think that's the only one.I did get press passes for the very first UFC in Belfast, but had to go to a fucking wedding, so gave them to my mate - he was a huge fan & couldn't believe his luck. Him & his girlfriend went & met all the fighters, was able to wander around backstage, and was sitting in press row! Jammy cunt. That was when we had TWC - but once The Fight Network bought TWC in late 2007, UFC wouldn't give us press passes anymore (they were on the outs with TFN over John McCarthy & some other stuff), so I never got to experience it!! Would have been amazing.